Mirage Editions, Inc., Jennifer Dumas, and Alfred Van Der Marck Editions, Inc. v. Albuquerque A.R.T. Co.

Albuquerque A.R.T. (appellant or A.R.T.) appeals the district court’s granting of summary judgment in favor of appellees Mirage, Dumas, and Van Der Marck (Mirage). The district court, in granting summary judgment, found that appellant had infringed Mirage’s copyright and issued an order enjoining appellant from further infringing Mirage’s copyright.

Patrick Nagel was an artist whose works appeared in many media including lithographs, posters, serigraphs, and as graphic art in many magazines, most notably Playboy. Nagel died in 1984. His widow Jennifer Dumas owns the copyrights to the Na-gel art works which Nagel owned at the time of his death. Mirage is the exclusive publisher of Nagel’s works and also owns the copyrights to many of those works. Dumas and Mirage own all of the copyrights to Nagel’s works. No one else holds a copyright in any Nagel work. Appellee Alfred Van Der Marck Editions, Inc. is the licensee of Dumas and Mirage and the publisher of the commemorative book entitled NAGEL: The Art of Patrick Nagel (“the book”), which is a compilation of selected copyrighted individual art works and personal commentaries.

Since 1984, the primary business of appellant has…